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Britain was dragged into a debate Tuesday on Muslim women wearing full-face veils in public, with its biggest selling newspaper adding to calls from politicians to join European countries that have banned its use.
The topic had stayed below the British political radar until the past week when a judge ruled that a Muslim woman will be allowed to go on wearing a veil but must take it off while giving evidence at her trial.
Her case came after Birmingham Metropolitan College, in a central English city which has a large Muslim population, dropped a ban on Muslim face veils after thousands of people signed a petition against the rule.
Junior Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne called on Monday for a "national debate" on the issue.
It exploded onto the front pages Tuesday after The Sun, Rupert Murdoch's top-selling British tabloid, carried a huge splash with the headline "UNVEILED" over a picture of the woman defendant wearing a niqab.
The Sun, which sells 2.25 million copies a day, demanded "vital reforms" that would ban veils in schools, courts, hospitals, airports, banks and secure areas but give women "freedom to wear them in streets and parks."
By way of comparison, it carried a picture of veiled women in Birmingham -- one of them flicking a V-sign with her fingers -- next to a picture of uncovered women in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
There is no ban on wearing the full-face veil in Britain, and a number of Muslim women do so, particularly in cities with large ethnic communities such as London, Birmingham and Bradford.
The debate is one that Britain, which prides itself on a liberal heritage and ethnic tolerance, has largely avoided even as some of its European neighbors with large Muslim populations have acted.
France has banned women from wearing full-face veils in public since April 2011 and Belgium followed suit three months later.
Other nations are considering similar legislation, including Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands.
The leading Muslim Council of Britain has expressed "concern at the direction of the national conversation currently taking place on the niqab".
"There are few people who wear the niqab, and they should be allowed to wear this veil if they freely decide to do so," said Talat Ahmed, chairwoman of the council's committee for social and family affairs.
"Every time we discuss the niqab, it usually comes with a diet of bigoted commentary about our faith and the place of Islam in Britain."
Sun managing editor Stig Abell said on Tuesday that the front page was an "attempt to balance pragmatism and religious freedom".
And the Sun's intervention follows a version of what a growing number of politicians in Britain have been saying.
Prime Minister David Cameron, from the center-right Conservative party, had backed Birmingham Metropolitan University's stance on wearing the veil.
Then Browne, from the centrist Liberal Democrats who are in coalition with the Conservatives, weighed in on Sunday when he said that Muslim girls and young women should be banned from wearing veils in schools and public places.
Browne told the Telegraph newspaper he was "instinctively uneasy" about restricting individual choice but added: "I think this is a good topic for national debate."
His views echoed those of some Conservatives in parliament who have been pushing for a ban.
But Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he opposed any legal ban.
"My own view, very strongly held, is that we shouldn't end up like other countries issuing edicts or laws from parliament telling people what they should or should not wear," Clegg said.
But the government may find it needs to address the issue sooner than it thinks.
Judge Peter Murphy -- who in the veil case on Monday ordered the 22-year-old woman from London to go uncovered to give evidence in her trial on a charge of intimidation -- said there needed to be clarity on the legal situation.
He expressed the "hope that parliament or a higher court will provide a definite answer" to the issue soon, adding: "The niqab has become the elephant in the courtroom."
© (C) 2013 AFP
16 Comments
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Jimizo
While I'm all in favour of getting rid of this ridiculous garb, it would be hard to counter arguments of victimization if other religious symbols are allowed in a country which has an established church enjoying outsized privileges. If this does reach the Commons and the Lords, the idea of unelected Christian clergymen voting on this seems strange.
ka_chan
This is dangerous waters. If it is officially permitted then men should be able to wear masks. Makes identification difficult. Makes life easier for robbers. Gangs of niqab wearing robbers roaming about. Ridiculous as a monty python script but not impossible. There is always the clash of freedom vs security.
illsayit
Im not really familiar with the religions and all but isnt the full head coverage not actually a symbol of the religion? Like has nothing to do with the religious part of Muslims? Just a rule? Associating that with a cross seems silly-cause that is a symbol of the religion. But headware is just a rule of the religion. So you could say one has a religious connotation but the other is just an ideal. Dont Muslims have some symbol too? Like is it the moon or something like that??
theFu
Religious freedom is critical.
Public safety is a concern too, so operating a motor vehicle should require unobstructed views.
The fact that a hidden face is disconcerting to many in the "western world" doesn't seem to matter. I'm willing to be uncomfortable, provided it is for someone elses' religious freedom. That doesn't mean I have to like it, but certain principles matter more than my comfort. I find it off-putting and suspicious - like they are hiding something. Cultural difference is all it is.
I've asked Muslim women about hiding their faces, explained how it made me feel. They find it empowering. That shocked me, but it lets them go out into the world without fixing more than their eye makeup. No need to worry about full-face makeup or a hairstyle if the day is busy. Clearly, this was a small sample poll.
Scrote
When I see people wearing the niqab in the UK I feel that they are sending a signal that they reject the values of that society and cuture. They are making a statement that they refuse to integrate and mix with others and wish to remain separate. If that's the case they ought to move to someplace where they would feel more comfortable, e.g. Saudi Arabia, instead of moaning that the society (which they reject) won't accommodate them.
I also don't think that the argument of "religious freedom" can be used to justify wearing such apparel, firstly because it isn't a required part of that religion and secondly because religious freedom cannot be absolute.
For example, I could make up a religion (they are all made up) that requires me to go around with my genitals exposed at all times. However, I could expect my "religious freedom" to be infringed the moment I set foot outside the front door.
lucabrasi
@Scrote
Surely you realise that a lot of people wearing the veil in the UK, perhaps most, were born and raised there, and are as British as the rest of us? How can they be rejecting the values of UK culture when they form a basic part of it?
Or do you ascribe to the Daily Mail version of Britain as white, Christian and royalist?
lucabrasi
@daveskecks
I'm all in favour of defending my culture ... from cricket to curry, to Wimbledon, to the Church of England to the Hindu temple on the corner to the Nottingham Hill carnival. All British, all good.
illsayit
"They find it empowering. That shocked me, but it lets them go out into the world without fixing more than their eye makeup. No need to worry about full-face makeup or a hairstyle if the day is busy"
hahaha, that's just funny. And how does that compare to somebody who does nothing? Rich and poor people maybe? Those who can afford to put some sort of covering and those who cant. Smart and stupid? Those who waste time on empowering themselves versus those who spend their time more usefully. Seriously. That is just the funniest comment. Hey lucabrasi-you dont get to defend your culture, you get to defend your heritage more like it. Culture is. Heritage is your roots. And you cant claim you do and dont wear head covering. It is either you do or you dont.
Get Real
Enough of this Tory Taliban. Let women wear what they want!
Scrote
lucabrasi: They may be born in the UK, but their attitude is one of detachment and refusal to integrate with the majority of the population. They live in their own ghettos and rarely interact with those outside of their community. I wonder why they are there and what benefit they bring to the country. From my viewpoint they offer nothing except homophobia, misogyny and intolerance: this is not what I recognise as UK culture, if anything it's the polar opposite.
Many ethnic groups have integrated well into the UK: people from the Caribbean, Indians, Chinese etc. When did you ever see a group of Chinese in the UK calling for "death to unbelievers", or similar nonsense? People expressing such views should be locked up or deported.
StormR
If the society you live in doesnt like what you wear and feel intimidated by it they have the right and choice to ban it , religous grounds or what ever should not be an issue. How about National Security for a reason.
If you don't like their right to ban it then go to a country where it is permissible, ie Pakistan or some other middle eastern middle ages country.
You should try your best to adpat to the ways of the new country you choose to move to as much as possible, it's not up to them to change to your way.
Religion should not have any sway on any whole society what so ever. You can practise your religion in the confines of your own home, not put in the face of everyone else.
I find those veils masks hijbas or what ever offensive too.
lucabrasi
@Scrote
I sympathise with your frustration. Fundamentalists of all stripes have some truly obnoxious opinions. I agree that people making death threats, however general, should be regarded as criminals. But equating wearing a niqab with such behaviour is disengenuous, and serves only to muddy the waters and provide ammunition for racists.
And calling for deportations is a clear sign that people are failing to grasp, at a very basic level, that these folk are our fellow Brits, which deepens the perceived divide between "us" and "them".
Madverts
Scrote,
"They may be born in the UK, but their attitude is one of detachment and refusal to integrate with the majority of the population. "
Well said.
The UK needs to look across the Channel and adopt secular policies before Britain either becomes a semi-Islamic republic, or the far right seize power. We've seen enough left wing appeasement policies crash and burn to reject such nonsense once and for all.
timeon
So is it ok next time I visit London to wear my ninja suit (without the swords) and go open a bank account?
Elbuda Mexicano
The UK, the last time I checked was not part of Saudi Arabia etc..right?? If women of any religion go to Saudi Arabia, women must wear clothes etc..that ALLOWED by the laws, religion of that country, right?? If women get on a plane from Iran, as soon as they are in that plane, ALL women must cover their hair, and the Iranians do not care what religion, country you are from. How many liberals FORGET that Muslim countries force their values on the rest of the world?? Now, the UK, yes it is a multi racial, multicultural country, but it also has a history of having to fight against terrorism. For many years it was the Irish IRA and recently different Muslim terrorists have attacked London etc..so is it outrageous for Britain to ask for people in their own country to UNVEIL, show their faces, why?? All you need is one lucky terrorist to get by, a dude dressed as a woman, KABOOM!! Too late, you and everyone around will be blown up into a million pieces and all of this to not seem racist?? To not be thought of as closed minded?? Sorry, if people want to live there, kind of like white folk who have to work or live in Muslim countries, can not run around in shorts, bikinis, topless, etc..right?? Why should Europeans be subjected to the fear of having possible terrorists, hiding their faces under their RELIGION be tolerated?? Makes no sense to me, so happy about your religion, go on to those countries where YOU HAVE NO CHOICE and enjoy your religion there?? I really doubt they will enjoy it, more like having been told since childhood to go to church etc..in my case I gave up Sunday mass a long, long time ago!
badsey3
Unless people insist on walking around naked for identity purposes, I see no need to start restricting articles of clothing. As on now there are more people causing crime with hoodies, and/or sun glasses. = I was unaware of women committing crimes while wearing veils. Must be a new trend, but it seems the Gov and media are really pushing this angle. What about the nutters (mostly male) that use pantyhose over the face --> should all pantyhose be taken off the shelves and women be forced to suffer. What about masks? -should we end Halloween practices.